Laptop user arrested for "illegal log-on" to house wi-fi
A man who was spotted using his laptop in the street has been arrested on suspicion of illegally logging on to a wireless broadband connection.
Two officers spotted the 39-year-old man sitting on a garden wall outside a home in Chiswick, West London UK.
Click read more for further information.
A man who was spotted using his laptop in the street has been arrested on suspicion of illegally logging on to a wireless broadband connection.
Two officers spotted the 39-year-old man sitting on a garden wall outside a home in Chiswick, West London. When questioned he admitted using the homeowner’s unsecured broadband connection from his position on the wall.
He was arrested and taken to Chiswick police station, where the case was passed over to the Computer Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Police. He was bailed to return on October 11 and faces a fine or a jail sentence of six months, or both.
The arrest is part of a police effort to focus on a crime that has come into existence in recent years, with the proliferation of wireless broadband.
Detective Constable Mark Roberts gave warning that anyone caught illegally \"hitching\" or \"piggy-backing\" on to another\'s wireless broadband connection could face arrest.
\"This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people\'s broadband connections,\" he said. \"To do so potentially breaches the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act.\"
Mr_Cheese
ghost 17 years ago
Just be a ninja, and flip away when someone spots you. In that way, everything will be alright:ninja:
ghost 17 years ago
poor brits. I can go war-walking in good ol' amerikka and the pigs don't have a clue what I'm doing.
ghost 17 years ago
If you're doing something while warwalking/wardriving to draw enough attention of the police, you probably deserve it.
When will people learn that discretion is key? :angry:
AldarHawk 17 years ago
This is retarded. If the home owner is too dense to secure his connection how the hell is it illegal to use it? it is not rocket science to set up WEP encryption on a bloody router at all…:whoa:
NightSpyder 17 years ago
That was probably the stupidest act of arrest I have ever heard of. In NJ there is no problem with people using other peoples internet.
ghost 17 years ago
well, it isnt illegal to use an unencrypted wifi…. but cracking a wep and using it is illegal per the computer fraud and abuse act.
regret 17 years ago
Not illegal to access an unencrypted wifi access-point? Tell that to the guys who were arrested for using HomeDepot's wireless about a year ago…
ghost 17 years ago
put you wep cracking prog on a pendrive so if you are thick/unlucky enough to ge caught you throw away the usb pen and the charges will be dropped aslong as you dont have any other illegal stuff on your laptop, alternatively you could do that thermite trick that is incredibly impraticle and expensive
ghost 17 years ago
Yeah koolkeith, your sat on the path outside some house, leeching of of the poor sods wireless network, when 2 police officers get out of a car near you, so you immeidaltly throw your pen drive in an attempt to knock one of them out while you promptly destroy your laptop using thermite.
however this arrest is rediculous, if you leave your front door open, and your stuff is stolen your house contents insurnace will not cover you!!!!
ghost 17 years ago
@ PureEvil, no but if they catch the thief, the thief will still be charged with theft
SySTeM 17 years ago
Wow, so instead of going out hunting terrorists, the police are looking for people who are "illegally" using peoples Wi-Fi, nice work police retards!
ghost 17 years ago
To be fair and honest, stealing someones internet is not legal, and is not acceptable. But aggreeing with system_meltdown here, it should not be up to the police to be catching people to do this. It is up to Wi-Fi operators to make sure that their networks are secure using stuff like WEP, WPA and MAC filtering. If someone is then stealing someones internet by getting past the protection systems i think that constitutes computer misuse and should be dealt with by the police.
As for terrorists :o That should be the job of the MOD, not the police ;)
richohealey 17 years ago
pffft MAC filtering is useless. WEP is only secure if you use 128 bit, and even then you just need time. The important thing is to have a second layer pof security beyond the wireless router. You need a password to login to my gateway server.
ghost 17 years ago
lol you need certificates the right mac adress and a password to logon to my net witch happens to be encrypted with WPA-PSK
ghost 17 years ago
It's not illegal to log onto an unsecured router. also he didnt break into anything and didnt access the computers (assumably) so they can't touch him with the computers misuse act, unless they decide to change it.:ninja:
ghost 17 years ago
"…unsecured broadband connection …" see. Although, The owner can now have is internet siezed as he violated the standard ToS lol, wich state only people who live are within the household (eg if you let ur next door nabour use it, it woul be a violation) are alowd to use it, of course if your the owner you can use it in your garden ect, BUT YA GET WHAT I MEAN i hope :angry:
ghost 17 years ago
That really is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, why is it illegal to use someone else's internet? It's not hurting anyone and the owners are going to be paying the same amount no matter how many people use it….
richohealey 17 years ago
Skunk: what if he downloaded 8 gig and got them shaped?… on the other hand, a guy who looks much like me often does just that.